GCSE options at some top schools

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K76
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:41 am

Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by K76 »

Perhaps you are right about the grass being greener. Personally I think we are very forunate to have our own grammar schools that offer loads of choice. If a child grows up and decide they want to go to a RG uni then they can choose their GCSEs accordingly, but for those children who might want to go abroad to study Italian and be a fashion designer there are options to cover that. It is not as if our local grammars are getting bad grades either. I just feel that a child who is bright enough to go to a super selective school should be offered more choices not less. Otherwise where is the benefit?

I just assumed that the super selective schools offered even more choices than normal grammar schools and I only found out yesterday they didn't.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by ToadMum »

K76 wrote:Perhaps you are right about the grass being greener. Personally I think we are very forunate to have our own grammar schools that offer loads of choice. If a child grows up and decide they want to go to a RG uni then they can choose their GCSEs accordingly, but for those children who might want to go abroad to study Italian and be a fashion designer there are options to cover that. It is not as if our local grammars are getting bad grades either. I just feel that a child who is bright enough to go to a super selective school should be offered more choices not less. Otherwise where is the benefit?
Well, that's just a daft question, isn't it? They are providing the benefit of not allowing your child to study the kind of subjects that the private members' club of the university world doesn't like the look of and really, you should be grateful to them. If you haven't been able to study something undesirable at GCSE, you're probably not going to be able to make the monumental mistake of taking it at A level.

Most universities specify the A levels required to study a given degree (if any - for example, for architecture, some don't insist on any particular subjects at A level) and at what grades, what A levels they won't include in any offer (usually General Studies and Critical Thinking) and any GCSE requirements. Not usually anything along the lines of, 'even if you have 11 A* in Maths, 2 English, History, Geography, RS, triple science and 2 MFL, if your 12th A* is in Business Studies, your application will go straight on the pile'.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
K76
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:41 am

Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by K76 »

Hmmm. I am not sure about this. My DD is 9 so she sits the 11+ exam next year which is why we are looking into it. The grammar schools near me said on their tours that they offer lots of opportunities and that it was a good thing. If what you are saying is right then why don't ALL grammar schools limit their GCSE choices?
Guest55
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Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by Guest55 »

I suspect Toad mum's tongue is decidedly in her cheek ... :D
Tinkers
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Location: Reading

Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by Tinkers »

Up until this year, girls at Kendrick had to pick one of textiles, food tech, product design or ICT. The current year 10s are the first year where it hasn't been mandatory to pick one, but many still have done. My own DD is doing textiles and ICT, although ICT was a reverse choice and she wasn't too keen on but it was was the one she disliked the least of what was left. We were well aware ICT isn't greatly thought of but they are doing 11.

Apparently something like 70+ girls are doing business studies. last year it was 36.

Following on from what TM said. DD was interested in architecture as well. Bath Uni require either A level art or A level in a design technology, as they are one of the few that don't ask for a portfolio. Another (I can't remember which one now), wanted GCSE art but when she asked, said they would accept A level in textiles instead if she did that. However textiles is the only DT subject that was taught at Kendrick at A level and I suspect it's no longer offered.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by ToadMum »

K76 wrote:Hmmm. I am not sure about this. My DD is 9 so she sits the 11+ exam next year which is why we are looking into it. The grammar schools near me said on their tours that they offer lots of opportunities and that it was a good thing. If what you are saying is right then why don't ALL grammar schools limit their GCSE choices?
Guest55 wrote:I suspect Toad mum's tongue is decidedly in her cheek ... :D
Fear not, K76, Guest55 has me sussed (well, mostly :lol: ).

My comment about what universities - yes, even the self-promoting Russell Group - say with regard to requirements and GCSE subjects was genuine, though. Actually, I say 'self-promoting', but I'm not sure that the Russell Group is so much that for themselves as through the auspices of those who promote their 'demands', and not necessarily accurately, off their own bat. Yes, it's almost certainly a very poor decision to allow a child to study just 'academically non rigorous' subjects at GCSE, but are there seriously that many non-selective schools that do this, let alone grammar schools?
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
K76
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:41 am

Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by K76 »

My older daughter goes to a non-selective upper school and they say you have to do 4 options but out of those, one has to be either history or geography, one has to be a language, and the other two you can pick what you want.

I understand what you are saying about certain unis wanting certain subjects, even at GCSE level but a good school should be able to advise you on this. By the time you pick your options you'll hopefully have a better idea of what you want to do. A good school should be able to support you and help choose the right subjects. I think it is unfair if they limit your options totally. My DD wants to be a programmer. I think she should be able to do computer science as a GCSE option so she can get a better understanding of what it involves. If she doesn't like it, it's better to find out earlier rather than later. Our local schools all offer computing at GCSE level, even the non selective schools. I understand that by the time she gets to A-level, if she wants to do Computer science at a top university she will need to pick her options more carefully but lots of other unis seem to accept computer science and it would put her in a good position if she had some previous understanding of the subject.
franticmum
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Re: GCSE options at some top schools

Post by franticmum »

My dd goes to a super-selective and clearly they are not all the same. She is now in sixth form but for her gcse's, she had 4 options to choose. One had to be a language and it was recommended that one should be geography or history but this was not enforced. Of the other two (or three, if the latter not taken) could be art, music, drama, computer science, ICT, textiles, product design, PE or a second language. Food tech is now offered but wasn't at the time. Most girls did veer towards one of these more practical subjects as a break from the more academic ones.

Her school does not do A-levels but instead does the IB. All except food tech and pure textiles are still offered at IB in some shape or other but possibly merged with a more traditional subject, such as sports exercise science or English literature and performance.

Hope that clarifies some of your queries. FM
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